#101
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:30pm
Still not the kind of review they need to get people swarming to the show.
#102
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:31pm
Okay, maybe it's not full-blown negative. But it's not much more: while he doesn't think the show is "bad," he doesn't have much to say about it that's good (aside from his usual FosterGasm).
And even if the show isn't "bad," Brantley is pretty dismissive of the whole thing. My consideration for a review: does the writer think the show is worth seeing? He didn't, really: Sutton Foster is not the entire show.
And even if the show isn't "bad," Brantley is pretty dismissive of the whole thing. My consideration for a review: does the writer think the show is worth seeing? He didn't, really: Sutton Foster is not the entire show.
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
Updated On: 12/14/08 at 10:31 PM
#103
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:32pm
Although Brantley didn't seem to like the show in toto, I wouldn't call it strictly negative. He does concede that it's better than Tarzan and Little Mermaid (granted, no great praise), but I wouldn't call it one of his killer reviews. It did, however, discourage me from spending full price.
I think the reviewers are REALLY going to have their knives out for Pal Joey. Deservedly, I am sad to report.
I think the reviewers are REALLY going to have their knives out for Pal Joey. Deservedly, I am sad to report.
BroadwayEd
#104
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:32pm
Hahaha whoever said Brantley loves Foster sure was right...
#105
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:33pm
I know, I know, that’s what the show’s about: the beauty within. But it seems to me that if “Shrek” had more generally heeded its own advice about substance versus surface, it might have come closer to casting the spell that lets Broadway shows live happily ever after.
Love it.
Love it.
#106
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:36pm
Though he did call her performances in Millie and Little Women "a bit grating".
#107
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:38pm
REVIEW ROUNDUP
Word of Mouth
Rave
USA Today
Very Positive
Associated Press
Entertainment Weekly
New York Magazine
Time Out New York
Variety
Positive
New York Daily News
Newark Star-Ledger
Newsday
NY1
Mixed-to-Positive
Bergen Record
John Simon
New York Post
Mixed
New York Times
Talkin' Broadway
Mixed-to-Negative
AM New York
Wall Street Journal
Negative
Washington Post
Very Negative
Word of Mouth
Rave
USA Today
Very Positive
Associated Press
Entertainment Weekly
New York Magazine
Time Out New York
Variety
Positive
New York Daily News
Newark Star-Ledger
Newsday
NY1
Mixed-to-Positive
Bergen Record
John Simon
New York Post
Mixed
New York Times
Talkin' Broadway
Mixed-to-Negative
AM New York
Wall Street Journal
Negative
Washington Post
Very Negative
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
Updated On: 12/20/08 at 10:38 PM
#108
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:43pm
There's a few quotes among the reviews that they can hang from the marquis at least. A show that already isn't doing anywhere near its initial expected box office needs much better reviews than this, however.
Other than that, did you enjoy the play Mrs Lincoln?
#109
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:44pm
As far as shows needing glowing reviews to bring in crowds... "The Little Mermaid" opened to many negative reviews but still seems to be bringing in enough people. I believe "Les Miz" also opened to negative reviews and we all know how that one turned out...
#110
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:44pm
phew, those reviews are all over the place! As long as this one gets a cast recording! I'm in those ranks of too poor to visit NYC, so cast recordings and tours are my bread and butter. it helps that I live an hour from Chicago, but still!
#112
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:48pm
I think we can all agree that the new ad will have the following pull quote
"A Big Fat Hit"- USA Today
"A Big Fat Hit"- USA Today
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#113
Posted: 12/14/08 at 10:49pm
Yes, but The Little Mermaid did much better business in previews.
#114
Posted: 12/14/08 at 11:04pm
Well, First of all-honest word of mouth hasn't been too great on this show. Also there hasn't been a strong demand for this show. It seems like the public, in this economy, is waiting for some sort of encouragement (or permission) to part with their cash to see this show. I'm not so sure these reviews provide that. It's a different world than when Wicked opened to mixed reviews. We'll see.
Other than that, did you enjoy the play Mrs Lincoln?
#115
Posted: 12/14/08 at 11:12pm
NY TIMES was mixed. Not mixed-negative.
A little known fact is that in the original screenplay, Pan's Labyrinth was Pan's FLAByrinth. Hmmmmmmm...glad they changed it.
#116
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:19am
John Simon is Mixed:
'As “Shrek the Musical” opens at the Broadway Theatre, starring Brian d’Arcy James, Sutton Foster and Daniel Breaker, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that it is done very well; the bad news is that it is done at all.'
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aLtBDoKkkzTQ&refer=muse
'As “Shrek the Musical” opens at the Broadway Theatre, starring Brian d’Arcy James, Sutton Foster and Daniel Breaker, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that it is done very well; the bad news is that it is done at all.'
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aLtBDoKkkzTQ&refer=muse
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#117
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:31am
The Times review is negative people, now move on to the next reviews.
#118
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:36am
It's definitely not strictly negative. He has some positive things to say about it.
#119
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:38am
It's mixed, but there's mixed-positive and mixed-negative. I'd describe Brantley's review as the latter.
#120
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:40am
TheaterMania is negative:
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/16553
"Julie Taymor may have made adapting a blockbuster animated feature as a musical for the Broadway stage look like a piece of cake, but it ain't -- a fact proven by librettist-lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire, composer Jeanine Tesori, and director Jason Moore, who have gotten it very wrong with Shrek the Musical, now at the Broadway Theater.
...
The show's biggest problem is that it is full of too many additional lumbering segments, many of which are made worse by the creators' assumptions that metamusicalizing the show with twee references to a number of recent and not-so-recent song-and-dance entries, Woody Allen film, and Valley of the Dolls, would amount to innumerable new delights. (To take just one example, they consider it amusing to bring on a prop horse and announce it as "Xanadu.") Not to mention that the puerile vulgarities the movie only hinted at are now made clear, such as a belching-and-flatulence contest between Shrek and Fiona that looks back to Irving Berlin's "Anything You Can Do (I Can D Better)", but lowers it to grade-school bathroom-humor level.
..."
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/16553
"Julie Taymor may have made adapting a blockbuster animated feature as a musical for the Broadway stage look like a piece of cake, but it ain't -- a fact proven by librettist-lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire, composer Jeanine Tesori, and director Jason Moore, who have gotten it very wrong with Shrek the Musical, now at the Broadway Theater.
...
The show's biggest problem is that it is full of too many additional lumbering segments, many of which are made worse by the creators' assumptions that metamusicalizing the show with twee references to a number of recent and not-so-recent song-and-dance entries, Woody Allen film, and Valley of the Dolls, would amount to innumerable new delights. (To take just one example, they consider it amusing to bring on a prop horse and announce it as "Xanadu.") Not to mention that the puerile vulgarities the movie only hinted at are now made clear, such as a belching-and-flatulence contest between Shrek and Fiona that looks back to Irving Berlin's "Anything You Can Do (I Can D Better)", but lowers it to grade-school bathroom-humor level.
..."
#121
Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:45am
At least they have one quotable, albeit out-of-context still would work:
"gives us a startling glimpse of true happiness."
- BEN BRANTLEY (The New York Times)
"gives us a startling glimpse of true happiness."
- BEN BRANTLEY (The New York Times)
#122
Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:02am
Apparently the Word of Mouth Panel saw a different version of Shrek than I did. I don't remember a Lord Farquar
http://www.broadway.com/Shrek-the-Musical/broadway_reviews/5017657
Positive review.
http://www.broadway.com/Shrek-the-Musical/broadway_reviews/5017657
Positive review.
#124
Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:26am
I am also glad Foster is getting great recognition. I was pleasantly surprised by her performance. I never really got what the fuss was about her (flame me). I disliked her in the Drowsy Chaperone, and I disliked her even more in Young Frankenstein (maybe the problem is I didn't see Millie). However, in Shrek I think she shined. She showed she is a fantastic singer, a hilarious comedian, a dainty lady, and a terrific dancer, all while exhibiting this pure energy showing she loves what she does and really wants to be there. I think that is what was missing for me when I have seen her in other shows.
#125
Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:28am
Simon says Tesori has a problem with tunes?
he's effin clueless.
he's effin clueless.
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